SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — With massive wildfires burning thousands of acres around California, Bay Area crews have answered the call to help.
A number of local fire agencies are now in Central and Southern California.
The Gifford Fire is the largest and most serious fire burning in California right now. More than 3,000 firefighters are battling it.
But there are other fires also raging.
“It’s all hands on deck in the California wildfire season,” said Bret McTigue, Marin County Fire battalion chief.
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Marin County Fire has sent more than 40 firefighters to the Gifford Fire.
“We have a strike team of dozers down there supporting the operation, and we have two of our hand crews as well,” McTigue said.
Bulldozer crews are working around the clock.
“The bulldozers are a critical tool to remove fuel for the fire line,” McTigue said.
“We also have a dozer team that is down on the Gifford Fire,” said Jason Clay, public information officer for CAL FIRE Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit.
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CAL FIRE’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit has about 40 personnel on the Gifford Fire. CAL FIRE’s San Mateo/Santa Cruz Unit is also helping out with a hand crew, leaders and various engines.
Alameda County Fire Department sent two engines and a strike team leader trainee a day after the fire started. The department says 10 of its members, along with firefighters from Hayward, Fremont, and Oakland Fire, are helping at the front lines.
San Francisco Fire Department says 15 of its firefighters were sent to the Gifford Fire on six CAL OES engines, along with a Fremont Fire Department strike team leader.
The Gifford Fire is just one of many fires scorching the Golden State right now.
“It is peak fire season,” said Brent Norwin, assistant chief for CAL FIRE San Mateo/Santa Cruz Unit.
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“(There’s the) Gifford Fire, the Gold Fire in San Bernadino County, the Rosa Fire in Riverside County, the Canyon Incident, which is also in LA County,” Norwin said.
Sunday night, Marin County Fire’s battalion chief said one of his strike teams of five engines got released from a fire in the San Benito area and is rushing to a new fire that just started in Yuba Nevada County: the Ponderosa Fire.
Clay explained that fire resources remain fluid.
“Units all across the state are constantly shifting, moving up and down. CAL Mutual Aid is geared to times like these. We have to send aid immediately to places in need, while still being able to maintain coverage for the rest of the state,” Clay said.
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Tinder-dry conditions, scorching-hot temperatures are keeping crews on their toes.
“It’s no surprise we’re getting new fires,” McTigue said.
Firefighters offer a critical reminder.
“Fire can happen any time of year,” Clay said. “We need to be ready year-round.”
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